Friends 10 Cringeworthy Jokes That Snubbed LGBTQ Viewers

Friends: 10 Cringeworthy Jokes That Snubbed LGBTQ Viewers

Friends had gay characters, but it was still problematic. So many times it alienated its LGBTQ audience by making questionable jokes at their expense.

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Friends came to define many things through the course of its 10 seasons. The impact of friendship, relationships, and unascertained sexuality. The show actually began with the supposed male lead, Ross, talking about how his ex-wife had ‘turned’ lesbian and ditched him in the process.

Watching Friends is like studying two different, opposing, shows. It provides so much perspective, yet it is problematic. You appreciate the writers for writing surrogate pregnancy, single parenthood, and adoption into the plot. Yet, there are moments that make us cringe in the show. Specifically, the many times they snubbed their LGBTQ viewers.

10 Ross: She Didn’t Know, How Should I Know

As hard as Carol may have tried to ignore the truth, her not knowing she was a lesbian was odd to begin with. Susan, the woman she cheated on Ross with, was her first female lover and maybe her last one. It’s weird how Carol met her at the gym, made friends with her, and suddenly realized she was homosexual.

Even when you throw in the ‘she took her time to ascertain her sexuality’ argument, it doesn’t erase the fact that Carol presented as straight for years. She dated Ross before she married him. Did the showrunners chunk a part of Carol’s sexuality and suddenly turn her into a strictly-lesbian woman? Bisexual would have been appropriate for Carol’s situation.

9 Joey: Marry A Woman On The Verge Of Being A Lesbian

Joey and Ross face-off over Kristen Leigh, a girl that they both are seeing. In a war of words, Joey says, “Just seems like Ross is the kind of guy who’d marry a woman on the verge of being a lesbian and then push her over the edge.”

First off, sexuality doesn’t work like that. No one is on the verge of becoming a member of the LGBTQ community, just as no one is “on the verge” of becoming straight. It’s something you are born with. As much as Joey wanted to present Ross’ incapabilities as a man as finally pushing his woman over the edge, it didn’t make sense. Thirdly, why is Carol’s sexuality the punchline?

8 Chandler: He stars In a Drag Show In Vegas

A grown-up man not wanting his dad to attend his wedding seems plausible. Until you find out Chandler’s fixation on his dad’s sexuality is the sole reason for striking off his name. If it wasn’t for Monica, Chandler wouldn’t even have bothered to invite his father.

It’s fair that as a child, Chandler may have had issues accepting his dad’s sexuality. But as a well-read, aware adult, it’s bizarre that he kept blocking him out. Frankly, we’d accept any other reason than Chandler saying, “I saw the stamp, it was one of those Marilyn Monroe stamps and I thought: my dad has that dress.”

7 Ross: Sting’s Son Made Fun Of The Fact That Ben’s Mom’s Are Lesbenims

Ben has been having some trouble in class because he’s been raised by two moms, lesbenims. The word ‘Lesbian’ was broken down into ‘Lesbenims’ and turned into a gag. Creative.

The thing is, Ross always cared about what Ben was learning. He went to the effort of dressing up as the holiday armadillo to teach Ben about Hanukkah. Ross should have instilled some confidence in Ben about his mothers, or someone at the school should have corrected the word and maybe spoken a few words. But no!

6 Phoebe: Oh My God, Now I Have Seen Everything

In “The One With The Lesbian Wedding,” Phoebe thinks the dead client Mrs. Adelman’s spirit lives in her. This lady won’t leave Phoebe’s body because she has some unfinished business. Turns out that unfinished business is watching two women wed each other.

First off, Mrs. Adelman was 82 when she passed away. Season 2 is based in the ’90s. Simple math would tell us that there’s no way Adelman lived to be 82 without the chance of seeing two women in love and celebrate it through marriage. Her spirit finally leaves Phoebe’s body in the middle of Carol and Susan’s wedding ceremony. She makes quite a scene.

5 Phoebe: I’m A Lesbian. It Was Difficult Coming Out To My Parents

Phoebe pretends to be one of Ben’s mothers in “The One With Monica’s Boots” to sneak into the school. She uses Ben to get free tickets to Sting’s concert since he’s classmates with Sting’s son. Phoebe doesn’t a very good job of convincing Ben’s teacher that she indeed is one of the boy’s parents.

“I am a lesbian. It was difficult coming out to my parents,” says Phoebe. Considering Phoebe has to pull off a con job, in what world do parents broadcast their sexuality like that? You are a lesbian, Phoebe, not an alien. What a non-joke!

4 Nora Bing: As I Recall, When We Got Married, I Saw The Groom In The Wedding Dress

Chandler’s parents finally make it to his wedding. The ex-couple is shown as resentful towards each other. There are way too many bottled up emotions between the two. But what can take precedence over cross-dressing jokes? Throughout the wedding ceremony, Chandler’s biological father is mocked. Never referred to as a ‘She’ or even as transgender, the plot is full of punchlines about her clothes. If she was happy to be there, she should have demanded Chandler call her mom, not dad. It’s hard to know if this character was a cis drag queen or trans, but it should have been handled better.

3 Chandler: It Is Stuff Like That, Isn’t it?

Let’s face it, Chandler was mildly homophobic. If he didn’t express his strong resentment towards LGBTQ, (but wait, did he?), he frequently gay-panicked. In “The One Where Nana Dies Twice,” Chandler is misperceived as gay and he is really, truly perturbed by it. When he asks his friends, all Monica says is, “You have a quality.”

Being gay is not a quality, and you definitely don’t become gay by saying, “Well, we don’t we all look nice all dressed up!” According to, words like these Chandler are the reason he’s mistaken for a gay man. Why must every character feel the need to shout that they are straight?

2 Joey: If Homosapiens Were, In fact, Homo Sapiens, Is That Why They Are Extinct?

Where do we even begin with this one? Do we start by explaining the means by which Homosexual people can have babies? Or do we throw up our hands at the sheer quantity of gay jokes? Joey asks this question to Ross, thinking Ross may have some kind of an answer for his quandary. Joey is the last person who should be worried about the extinction of the human race, given how badly he treats his women. This is hypocritical talk coming from a guy who doesn’t believe in stable relationships. Let alone getting married and continuing the human race! Having Joey worry about an entire spectrum of sexuality ridding the Earth of people? Not selling.

1 Ross: Are You Gay?

And once again, Friends feels the need to shout that even its guest stars are straight. In “The One With The Male Nanny,” Ross and Rachel set up nanny interviews. Ross is looking for a competent person woman to take care of his daughter. Sandy is one of the interviewees. Sandy is a man.

That obviously doesn’t sit well with the paleontologist, who may have used the words ‘anthropologically speaking,’ or ‘anthropological’ once or twice. He fiercely asks Sandy whether he’s gay. Instead of being appalled at the intrusion, Sandy chooses to answer it promptly through an idiosyncratic motion of his hands. “I’m straight..I’m engaged.” If being a male nanny wasn’t outrageous enough for Ross, Sandy’s crying was a problem. Men cry too, there is nothing to be sorry about, Sandy.

Ross ends by saying, “You gotta be at least bi.” We’ll take that as a half-apology for doing what they did to Carol.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/friends-cringeworthy-jokes-snubbed-lgbtq-viewers-audience-transphobic-homophobic/

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